Food Fight!
by PernDragonrider
Summary: Loads of homework, ceaseless battle against Mondo, Rita, and Zedd take thier toll on the Zeo Rangers. How do they cope with the mounting pressures? Read and find out.


Food Fight!

By: PernDragonrider

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers. I'm not making any money; don't sue please.

A/N: This was originally written and posted in my LiveJournal (where I'm known as Skoshybabe). It was written for the AWDT (Amazing Weekly Drabble Thingy) Challenge. I didn't keep this under the 500 words, but I could think of no other way to use last week's prompt of "What are you doing with those oranges?". The beta work on this was done by Allie351 and my humble thanks you for doing the beta for me at the last minute. This is my answer to that prompt. I hope everyone enjoys this little tale and please leave me a review to let me know what you think. Enough of the notes; now on with the tale:

The week had gone badly for everyone at Angel Grove High School, especially for the six teenagers that comprised the world's defense from the evil alien attackers attempting to conquer Earth. It seemed to everyone that the teachers were bent on handing out piles of homework to be completed each night and even more homework on Friday's that had to be turned in on Monday at the beginning of each class. Every student, including Jason Lee Scott, Tommy Oliver, Tanya Sloan, Katherine Hillard, Adam Park, and Rocky DeSantos, the six teens that were secretly also the Power Rangers, was nearly buckling under the load their teachers piled upon them.

Jason Lee Scott, former leader of the Power Rangers had just returned to Angel Grove and the Power Rangers as the Gold Ranger; a power he took from a friendly alien, Trey of Triforia. He was unaccustomed to the load of homework; having spent the last eighteen months in Geneva, Switzerland at World Teen Peace Initiative and not having to attend classes. He'd spent his spare time while at the conference in the very well equipped weight room and learning new styles of martial arts from other attendees. He'd added about thirty pounds of muscle to his already well-developed five-foot ten-inch frame and he'd obtained even more maturity while he was away. Unfortunately for the dark haired, chocolate eyed handsome teenager; none of that was helping him deal with the piles of homework from each teacher he had. He was struggling and barely keeping his grades up to where he would still be accepted to a college upon graduation, but just barely. _"I need a break or I'm going to break."_ Jason thought as he eyed the stack of books in front of him at his seat at the local teen hangout, the Angel Grove Youth Center and Gym and Ernie's Juice Bar.

"Hey Jason." Rocky said cheerfully as he plopped down in a seat next to Jason and the Hispanic teen's pile of books just matched the stack that was in front of Jason too. "Oh man, I see you have a ton of homework too. Dang I don't think I've ever had this much homework for the weekend assigned even before the weekend gets here. What do you think has gotten into all out teachers?" His voice was half joking and half serious at the same time.

"Well I don't know about your classes, Rocko, but since I'm taking advanced and college prep classes I'm buried every day in homework for one class or another. This weekend is the worst I've ever seen though. I've got four tests coming up on Monday in English, History, Calculus, and Biology. That doesn't count the two papers due for English and History class and it also doesn't include the research I have to do for my Speech class too. I've got a speech due on Tuesday that has to be twenty minutes long on the topic of world politics and how our system differs from other countries. At least my time at the Peace Initiative will come in handy for that."

"Ouch." Rocky said with a mock wince of pain as Jason ticked off the homework and studying he had to do over the weekend. "Man we all need a break or we're going to break." Rocky lowered his voice and glanced around to make sure that no one would overhear his and Jason's conversation. "Between school work, attacks from Mondo, and attacks from Rita I barely have time to study for anything or write my papers for classes. If it weren't for Billy giving us all free tutoring and helping us with studying for test; I don't think any of us would have the grade averages that we do."

"I know and Billy's already promised to help me study for my Calculus, Biology, and History exams and he's offered to look over my speech and both of my papers before Monday too." Jason replied with a grim smile. "I never imagined it would be this hard; coming back home and getting back into the swing of school. According to the test the Initiative organizers gave us all we'd passed their equivalent of high school course already. I wasn't supposed to have to come back and attend, like Billy, but my transcripts from the Initiative haven't arrived yet. Hence I'm stuck with this pile of homework and dreading spending the weekend holed up in my room with the computer and books to get it done."

Rocky had just opened his mouth to reply when both of their communicator's went off. "Oh man, not now." Rocky moaned as he and Jason quickly gathered up their belongings and moved to the alcove that led to the locker rooms.

"Jason here, what's up guys?" Jason said into his communicator quietly as both he and Rocky kept a close eye on the entrance to and the exit from the locker room.

"Come to the Power Chamber, guys." Tommy's slightly stern voice issued from the small speaker in the fancy futuristic looking watch that graced Jason's left wrist. "Zordon and Alpha have detected something coming toward us at a high rate of speed. We need to be prepared in case it's an attack of some sort from Mondo or Rita and Zedd."

"On our way, bro." Jason replied and then he and Rocky once again checked their surroundings before triggering the button on their 'watches' that would teleport them to the base of operations for the Power Rangers Zeo, the Power Chamber.

Jason and Rocky materialized and set their books down quickly and joined the others with scanning the incoming object with all the long-range capabilities of the very advanced and alien machinery in the Power Chamber. An hour later whatever had been hurtling toward Earth took a sharp turn and veered away, the scanners showed that the trajectory of it would take the object well out of the range of Earth's solar system. Everyone, Zordon and Alpha included, breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Well it appears to have been a completely false alarm." Billy said with a relived tone but one that held apology and regret too. "I'm sorry for having to drag all of you here, but we weren't sure what it was and what dangers it could be bringing."

"Don't apologize, Billy." Tommy said as he, Kat, Jason, Rocky, Adam, and Tanya stretched out muscles that had nearly cramped from being bent over the scanning equipment for an hour. "It's part of our job to be here, but today and this entire weekend has to be the worst possible time for something like this. If I didn't know better I'd say Rita or Zedd put an evil spell on all my teachers this week. I've had piles and piles of homework and this weekend isn't any different. Four tests, two papers, a speech, and a demonstration due on Monday morning."

"Same here." Adam sighed. "Well there goes having any fun this weekend."

"Maybe not." Billy said with a small smile that surprised everyone else in the room. "What if we were to all go camping this weekend and study together for the tests that you have in common. I'd come along and could help with whatever anyone was having problems with. This way we can have some fun as well as accomplishing the goal of getting all of your homework seen too. It also would facilitate us being able to respond quickly to any attacks by Mondo as well; since we'll all be in the same place."

"Something like we did for the big test the weekend we went to your Uncle's Camping Resort, Billy?" Jason asked with a smile as his brain started looking forward to the companionship and help of his friends. "As long as Rita doesn't dig up another Crystal of Nightmares; I'm game for this. I could really use the help."

"Actually I was going to propose that Tommy ask his Uncle if we could use his cabin instead of going all the way to my Uncle's Resort." Billy said with a brighter smile gracing his face. "Tommy's uncle's cabin is closer to Angel Grove and it wouldn't take us as long to travel out there and back as well as it having the benefit of being closer to the Power Chamber and won't tax the teleporters for getting us here."

"I'll go and call Uncle John and ask him." Tommy said with a smile as he looked at the slowly spreading smiles on all his friends and teammates faces. "If he says yes, then we can head up right after school tomorrow. That will give us all of Friday afternoon, Saturday, and most of Sunday before we have to come back home for school on Monday."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Jason said smiling and looking around at the smiles spreading from face to face of all his friends. "I'll bring the snacks, some hot dogs and stuff, along with some drinks."

"I'll bring some hamburgers and fixings." Tommy said looking around at the pleasurable smiles his friends were showing instead of the grim faces they'd held moments before Billy's suggestion.

"I've got the breakfast foods and snacks." Kat said thoughtfully.

"I'll bring drinks and some snack foods too." Rocky said happily.

"I'll handle getting our sleeping gear and I'll offer to drive." Adam said quietly.

"I'll help Adam with the sleeping stuff and I'll bring snacks and some games for us to play if we can't be outside." Tanya offered.

"I'll bring the fixing for s'mores, firewood, and everything else we'll need for a camping trip. I think we've still got a couple of tents in the garage attic." Billy offered and smiled as everyone accepted his offer. "Thank you all for accepting this offer of this study weekend while camping. Otherwise I would be rather pressed to assist all of you with your study assignments for the weekend."

"Not a problem at all, Billy." Tommy said looking at the others and joining in with the happy smiles that turned his way. "This will help us out too, because some of us have speeches we have to give and demonstrations as well. This gives us a chance to practice in front of an audience and clean it up if needed before giving them in front of the class."

"I've got the coolers for the food and stuff too." Tanya said after thinking for a minute. "We're going to need places to store food."

"My uncle John's cabin has a fridge, stove, and running water, Tanya." Tommy said with a smile for his newest friend and teammate. "But we're still going to need coolers to transport everything that needs refrigerated in up there and the leftovers back home. So good thinking."

"Okay, then we're all set and as long as Tommy's uncle agrees, we're headed out right after school tomorrow, right?" Jason asked seriously.

"I'll call uncle John when I get home and pass the word on what he says." Tommy said happily as they gathered their belongings and teleported to secluded spaces near their homes.

Tommy called his uncle the second he got in the door and put down his stuff. His uncle agreed that he and his friends could use his cabin on the mountain lake property it sat on and he could pick up the keys at the racetrack on their way out of town the next afternoon. Tommy immediately called Jason and started letting everyone know that their planned study weekend of camping was a go.

The next afternoon saw seven teenagers packing Tommy's Jeep and Adam's Geo Tracker with supplies in the parking lot of the high school. They joked, laughed, and were just generally in very good spirits as well as all of them were looking forward to the slight break in their overloaded lives. Once packed and everyone loaded into the two vehicles they started out with a short stop at the racetrack for Tommy to get the keys. They talked, laughed, and joked with their fellow passengers until they pulled up and parked outside the cabin about two hours later.

Tommy hopped out of the driver's door of his jeep as Jason, Billy, and Kat got out of the other doors. Tommy went up to open up the cabin while the other three started unpacking everything and carrying it inside. Adam, Tanya, and Rocky climbed from Adam's Tracker and they too started unloading and taking everything inside. Once all of the perishable items had been stored in the refrigerator and the boxed or canned items had been placed into the cabinets and everyone told where everything was the group of seven moved to the large grassy area in front of the cabin and all of them looked longingly toward the shimmering lake not a hundred feet away with various sighs of disappointment they settled onto blankets, brought from inside, and started working on their homework while occasionally teasing and joking with each other quietly. Billy moved from person to person and worked with them until all of them were forced inside because the daylight was leaving and dusk was fast approaching.

"I've made more progress on this dumb paper for Ms. Appleby this afternoon than I have all week long." Rocky said happily as they all pitched in and started helping with preparations for their evening meal.

"Me too." Jason said from where he was heating up the large cast iron skillet to cook their burgers on. "I still can't believe how easy it was to write and even make the corrections that Billy suggested. I thought I'd never get that paper done. My speech is ready and if you guys would play guinea pigs for me tomorrow I'd like to give it a go and see if you can find anything that needs changing before I have to give it on Monday."

"We've all got a speech or demonstration to do so why don't we work on those tomorrow?" Adam suggested quietly from where he sat slicing tomatoes at the large solid oak table in the dining area.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Billy said from where he was placing the hamburger buns on a cookie sheet so they could be warmed in the oven while the burgers were being cooked.

"Works for us." Tanya said with a slightly teary voice as her and Kat were slicing onions. Kat just nodded as the tears ran down her face from slicing the pungent onions.

"Same here." Tommy said as he and Rocky were getting out plates, setting the table, putting the condiments out and getting drinks for everyone.

Soon they were all eating and the talk turned toward their plans for after graduation. It didn't surprise Billy that most of them were college bound; however it did surprise all of them when Rocky said quietly yet very seriously. "I've got a small inheritance from when my father died and I'm going to start a karate school-camp for troubled kids. Charging a small fee for classes and getting teachers, counselors, and social workers that are like-minded and want to help them, not just shove them through the system. I've already put down a deposit on a building in Stone Canyon and the renovations to turn it into a place something like the Juice Bar have been going on for most of the year. By graduation it will be open and I've already gotten calls from a couple of social workers about getting a couple of their charges into it. When my dad died, there were six of us kids and mom was pregnant with my baby sister, Carlotta. If it hadn't of been for the wonderful social worker, my mom and dad's friends and both of their families; us kids would have been placed into the foster care system. My mom works hard and us older kids do what we can to help with watching the younger ones for her. This is my way of paying back the lady that refused to take us away from a six-month pregnant widow and help us all stay together. She's still a social worker in Stone Canyon and she's also become a good friend of the family. She's the one I got the idea for doing this from. Martial arts has helped me become a more focused and better student over the years and it also helps with self-esteem and confidence too. Things these kids need by the truckload, sometimes."

"Rocky, that a wonderful thing to want to do and I wish you all the best for doing it." Tanya said rising quickly and giving the stunned teen a quick hug and peck on the cheek. "Count on me, I can't teach martial arts, but I can teach them something about music. I'd like it if you'd let me come and give guitar and piano lessons to those that might want it."

"You need help with any of your classes, let me know." Jason and Tommy said at the same time. They looked at each other and gave the other matching grins of happiness as Jason continued, "I'd love to help out, if you needed any help, Rocky. I don't have much but my small college fund, but I can come and teach some classes for you, free."

"Same here." Tommy said with a smile for both Rocky and Jason.

"Same goes for me, Rocky." Adam said quietly and slapped Rocky on the back. "I've already got a summer job lined up at the amusement park to work in one of the thrill shows there, but on my days off, I'm yours if you want a Kung-Fu instructor."

"I'm starting my student teacher's certificate this summer too." Kat said with a smile. "I'm offering to come and tutor some of the younger ones if they need it to get their grades up or bring them up to their age level as well as giving ballet or tap dancing lesson to those that might want to take them."

Everyone was surprised at the tears that sprang into Rocky's eyes when Billy said quietly, "Rocky, I will also offer my services to help tutor these kids as well as also offer to give them some gymnastics lessons that will assist in their martial arts training too."

"You guys are just too much." Rocky said unsuccessfully trying to hide his tears of surprise and joy. "I thought you'd all be like Ramon, my older brother, and try to talk me out of doing this."

"Not in a million years, Rocky." Jason said clamping a hand on his friend's shoulder and gently squeezing. "What you want to do is give something to kids that need it. That's what Tommy, Billy, Zack, Trini, Kimberly, and I did all the time for Ernie. Why wouldn't we do it for you too? Granted Ernie paid us, if only in food and smoothies, but I want anything you'd pay me put back into your business so that more kids could be helped."

"We're fighting for our world and for a future for everyone, Rocky." Tommy said looking around at the group and while missing certain old familiar faces; the new faces were just as welcomed in his heart. "I'm sure if Kimberly, Trini, and Zack were here they'd offer to help too and will come and help out if they ever come back home."

"We're a team, but we're also friends, Rocky." Billy said as he put his hand on Rocky's other shoulder. "We help our friends out when we can and we give what we can to our world. I could have already left Angel Grove and started college at any university in the world, but I stayed here for two reasons. The first reason is that I'm not ready to leave everything I've know and go off out into the world. The second reason is that I'm still needed, maybe not as an active Ranger, but by being in the Power Chamber and helping all of you I'm still working to help keep our world safe so that my family and friends have a future to look forward too."

"That's why I came home, earlier than Zack and Trini did." Jason said releasing Rocky's shoulder and looking down at the empty plate in front of him. "All they ever did was talk, talk, talk, and more talk that never went anywhere. I'm not cut out for that because I'm more of a take charge and do person than a talk it to death person. I felt something calling me back home, whether it was homesickness, the Morphin Grid telling me I was needed again, or just plain boredom with talking things to death; I don't know, but I got back as soon as I could. Seems like I came back at just the right time cause I'd just slept off my jetlag when Tommy came knocking and asked me to come back as a Ranger."

"I'm really glad you did come home, bro." Tommy said quietly yet very seriously. "If you hadn't; I don't know what we'd have done to save the Gold Ranger's powers and Trey. I know I've told you time and again how much I appreciated you doing this, but here, in front of everyone of our friends and teammates, I want to tell you thank you for being there when I came knocking."

"I told you then and I'll tell ya now, bro, I couldn't have said no if I'd have wanted to." Jason replied with a slight smile on his face. "I knew that by coming home early I'd wind up sharing my friends with their Ranger duties, but now, now it's easier cause I'm sharing those duties with them instead of being on the sidelines."

"Well, I'm beat." Billy said stifling a yawn behind his right hand. "Why don't we all crash for the night and then we can get an early start tomorrow morning on all the rest of the homework that you've all been assigned?"

"Sounds like a great plan to me." Rocky, Tanya, Adam, and Kat all four said at one time and then laughed and smiled over their simultaneous response to Billy's question.

"Same goes for me." Jason said as he to smothered a yawn with his hand.

"Okay, we can leave what little clean up from dinner until in the morning." Tommy said rising from his chair and putting his dishes next to the sink. "I'm just plain beat too."

The others followed Tommy's example and soon all seven teens were comfortable ensconced in one of the three bedrooms. The next morning they were all up early and they'd cleaned up from the night before had some breakfast and were soon sprawled on the grass out front again with some longing looks at the cool inviting waters of the lake.

"Man this is giving me a headache." Rocky said with a groan as he rolled from his stomach to his back and brought his history textbook with him. "I'm never going to remember all of this for that huge test on Monday."

"You can remember it, Rocko." Jason said with a smile as he looked up from the same book. "Here, take a break and have a snack. That might help you study better." Jason reach into the small red and white cooler that was sitting next to him and grabbed the first zip-locked plastic bag out of it. He opened the bag and without looking at Rocky again, tossed a quarter of an orange at Rocky.

Rocky didn't realize that Jason was going to toss him a snack and had sat up to reach for the cooler when the quartered orange slice struck him right in the chest, pulp side first. The splat of the contact, the cold of the orange slice and the resulting juices from the impact caused Rocky to yelp in surprise.

Tommy and Billy looked up from where they were bent over Tommy's Trigonometry textbook and Billy smiled while Tommy tried to hide his merriment as he said with a rather stern tone, "Jason, what are you doing with those oranges?"

Jason looked abashed at Rocky, now dripping with orange slices and the outraged look on his face was enough to give him the idea for a fun break from their studying. He held up the large gallon sized zip-lock bag and smiled with such an impish delight that everyone started closing their textbooks and setting them out of the way; including Rocky. "I was just tossing Rocky a snack, bro." Jason said with very mock innocence as he reached into the still open bag and drew out another quartered slice of cold, wet fruit. "Here, here's a slice for you too." Just as he finished speaking, Jason launched the orange slice at his best friend and team leader.

Tommy tried ducking the wet, cold missile heading his way, but he only succeeded in having it land, pulp side down on top of his head. His scowl was tempered with a slow spreading smile of delight as he took the sticky mess from his hair and looked around the group. "FOOD FIGHT!" Tommy yelled before launching the sticky pulpy mess in his hand at Adam.

"Oh no, you don't!" Adam cried and dove out of the way of the chuck of food headed his way. His dive brought him up next another one of the coolers they'd brought with them and dug into it quickly a came out with a large 2-liter bottle of soda. Adam quickly took the top off, covered the opening with his thumb, and then shook vigorously. He then directed the resulting spray of sticky, cold, and wet carbonated drink at the rest of his teammates.

The food fight escalated with Tanya, Kat, Billy, and Rocky quickly joining and obtaining their own ammunition to launch at the others too. They used anything they could get their hands on and by the time everyone fell down laughing, the stress of massive amounts of homework, fighting off monsters to save their world, and everything else was forgotten as all seven of them fell to the ground laughing like a bunch of little kids instead of near adults.

"Oh man, we can't go back into Uncle John's cabin like this." Tommy moaned once his near hysterical laughter had subsided and he got a good look at himself and everyone else. All of them were dripping wet with combinations of soda, water, and Kool-Aid and most of them also had bits of grapes, oranges, watermelon, along with crushed potato chips, corn chips, and pretzel sticking to them.

"Why don't we immerse ourselves in the lake to take off the worst of the mess and then once we're relatively dry we can then go in and change clothing?" Billy asked as he looked around at the happy expressions that graced all of his friend's faces.

"Great idea, Billy!" Jason said scooping up the person nearest to him, which just happened to be Tommy, and quickly jogging down to the lake were he dumped one of his best friends in the world unceremoniously into the warm waters of the lake. The other five weren't far behind with Billy scooping the tall graceful form of Kat over his shoulder in a fireman's carry while Adam grabbed his girlfriend, Tanya, up into his arms with the assistance of Rocky and they proceeded to take their food fight into the lake for a water battle.

Over two hours later the seven exhausted teens straggled out of the lake and collapsed on the blankets they'd been studying on. Some miracle or some inner sense of need a dry and clean place to rest after the impromptu food fight had kept the blankets free of any fall out from that so they had a place to drop down, rest, and allow their tired dripping bodies to dry some before going into the cabin and changing clothes.

"Thanks, bro." Tommy said from where he lay next to Kat with his arm companionably around her waist. "We needed that and leave it up to you to find a way we could release some pressure and have fun at the same time."

"If it hadn't have been Jason doing it, it would have been Rocky." Tanya said from where she and Adam laid much like Kat and Tommy were resting.

"De nada, bro." Jason said smiling from where he lay on a blanket, his large muscular frame stretched out and relaxed completely. "I really didn't intend for it to escalate into a food fight; it just happened. It was a very fortunate accident."

"Accident or planned; I don't care." Rocky said from where he too lay stretched out on a blanket as the sun dried his wet clothing. "It worked and that's all that mattered. I really thought my brain was going to explode with everything I've been cramming into it for these tests on Monday. God I will be so glad when this year is over with. Finals are just around the corner and then not much longer to graduation."

"We'll make it, Rocky." Billy said from where he was comfortably sprawled on another blanket. "All of us have done and seen things that others can only imagine. All of us should come through the end of our senior year with flying colors."

"You're the genius and you've already graduated." Kat said with a happy tone of voice. "So that's easy for you to say."

"No, seriously," Billy said rolling over and the truth and conviction behind his words conveyed to everyone. "We've all been or are the main protectors for our world for three, almost four, years now. Graduating from high school and going on with our lives will be easy after doing that, or at least it should be easier than keeping our entire planet safe from invading evil aliens bent on world conquest."

"Billy's right." Jason said rolling over and putting out his right hand into the center of the circle of blankets. "Come on, bro; you know you want to and we haven't done this… " Jason trailed off as Billy, quickly followed by Tommy then Adam and Rocky and finally Kat and Tanya placed their right hands over his. They all shared a meaningful look with each other and then their hands rose slightly and then dropped back down to the ground.

"Friends." Tanya said removing her hand with a smile for everyone.

"Teammates." Kat added smiling happily.

"Together no matter what." Rocky said as he removed his hand.

"Through good times and through bad." Adam said in a serious tone that belied the smile he had on his face.

"Always there for each other." Tommy said removing his hand from the pile and fixing each of them with a look that conveyed his sincerity to all of them without ever removing the smile from his face.

"For those that can't be here, we'll always remember." Billy said quietly as he removed his hand and looked around at everyone. His smile was still there yet there was a sadness about his eyes that all of them understood.

"We're all that and more." Jason said removing his hand from the center and looking around the group with an expression of satisfaction, happiness, yet overlaid with a serious and slightly teasing tone. "We're together and even if we are missing a few faces, they're still here in our hearts and thoughts, so that means they'll always be wherever we are too."

"You're right, bro." Tommy said somberly and then reached into the cooler by him and passed a bottle of fruit juice to everyone in the group. The each opened their drinks, but didn't take a sip until Tommy raised his glass to the sky and said quietly, "To us and to Kimberly, Zack, Trini, Zordon, Alpha, Dulcea, Ninjor, and Trey. Without them the world would be a much, much unhappier place for all."

"To us and to them." Everyone responded then they all took a deep drink of their juice and went back to studying with a happier heart and a much lighter soul.

XXXXX The End XXXXX


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